Read Online Sally James by Fortune at Stake - Free Book Online

nodded.
    ‘For a day or so I’ll keep him, then, so long as you do the nursing. I’ve no one to do that. Betsy, go and see to some broth. Sam! Here, man, help me carry the gentleman upstairs.’
    Lord Chalford was lifted from the cart and taken into the inn and Susannah retreated to the room opposite, which had been offered for her own use, to tidy her ruffled hair and wash her hands. The landlord and one of his minions undressed Lord Chalford and put him, clothed in one of the innkeeper’s own nightshirts and a tasselled nightcap, between the sheets. Then, as the man would have lingered to offer his advice, she drove him out of the room, saying she had other work for him to do.
    ‘First you must send for a doctor. Is there one nearby?’
    ‘Aye, Dr Frome lives but four miles away.’
    ‘Then pray send a lad to fetch him immediately. I must speak with the man who helped me.’
    The farmer was in the taproom regaling its inhabitants with a highly coloured version of the exciting affair, but he readily promised to send someone to fetch the black horse, and Susannah, telling him she was sure the injured man would wish to see him to thank him personally for his assistance when he felt better, smiled and went back upstairs.
    She found the innkeeper’s wife, obedient to her husband but sullen, trying to force Lord Chalford to swallow some of the thick broth she had brought. He had just recovered his senses again, but it was clear he had no notion of what was happening and Susannah, after one look at him, sharply told the woman she would be more likely to harm than assist him with her broth. The woman flushed with resentment.
    ‘Well, of all the ingratitude!’ she said angrily. ‘If you want to stay here, Miss, you had best leave off those airs and graces.’
    Curtly reminding her of her husband’s willingness to accept the gold, Susannah drove her from the room and returned to the bed, looking anxiously down at Lord Chalford. He was tossing restlessly and when she put her hand to his forehead it felt hot and dry. It was clear he had no idea who she was, for which she was thankful, realizing it might save some awkward moments. It would scarcely be of any assistance to them if Lord Chalford were to inform the innkeeper or the doctor that she was a gambling prize!
    When they had undressed him the innkeeper and his man had removed the improvised bandage, and Susannah rolled up the sleeve of his nightgown to see the wound more clearly. It had almost stopped bleeding, but looked red and angry, and after a moment she rang for the innkeeper and demanded water and clean bandages. She had no salve to anoint the graze and was offered none, but decided it might be as well to leave the wound until the doctor could provide something. She set about cleaning it as well as she could, considerably hampered by Lord Chalford’s restlessness, but eventually she had it washed and bound and spent the rest of the time until the doctor arrived struggling to keep her patient quiet, for he tossed and muttered ceaselessly, trying to sit up or throw off the covers.
    Dr Frome was a small, fussy man, but he appeared to know his business and after examining the patient gave him a dose of laudanum which quietened him, and then, after shaking his head over the wound and looking curiously at Susannah, who had offered no explanation of it, cupped Lord Chalford.
    ‘I will return in the morning,’ he said briskly as he packed away his instruments. ‘Someone should sit with him through the night, for he may become delirious when the effects of the laudanum wear off. I will leave another dose.’
    ‘I will remain with him,’ Susannah promised, thinking it most unlikely that the innkeeper would offer help and being very reluctant to trust him or his wife even if they did. Now the main responsibility of caring for Lord Chalford was in the doctor’s hands, she was beginning to suffer a reaction and think with horror of what she had done. She had almost